Posted:26th Dec 2002Someone at a club once mentioned to me poi balls that shoot little bolts of static electricity as you spin them that he called "lightning poi".Does anyone know if these actually exist or was someone pulling my chain.I haven't seen this guy in months otherwise I'd ask him.If they don't exist any ideas on how to make something to that effect.

Posted:26th Dec 2002dude i think this would be the coolest thing of all time. i mean, one would be unstoppable, you know...like the terminator. maybe if you took two of those lightning balls they sell at spencer's gifts in the mall, plugged them in, give yourself some slack, and spin them around it might look cool. but i think zapping people into submission at the clubs would be great. just think, some joe is talking to some chic you wanna talk to and you could totally zap the dude. [convulsions=fun for the whole family].

Posted:26th Dec 2002Hey flid,that's not a bad idea with the exception of I'd like to still be alive afterwards.Besides I was talking static electricity.I don't think the local authorities would be too thrilled with crazy poi spinners screwing around with a power station.

Posted:27th Dec 2002That would be an awesome idea. Problem is, unless you were grounded to it, it would shock you every time it got near you. But if it was grounded to you, it probably wouldn't hold charge. hmm...I'll have to play with a Van de Graff generator (or however it's spelled) and figure out how to do this.

oh, and It would most likely work better for clubs than poi (if it's like a Van de Graff generator), unless you want to spin clubs on chains, kind of like they were poi. hmm...

Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever -Mahatma Ghandi

Burning--the process of breaking things down into a simpler form. -Hitokage-

Posted:27th Dec 2002Hitokage,if you still live in CT you should make your way to New Haven this Saturday.Nyx is predicting there will be about a dozen fire/glow/UV spinners out on the town.If you read this in time please respond becuz we need more CT spinners.Maybe we could ponder ways to make the "elusive lightning poi".

Posted:27th Dec 2002Hey Poiaholic, I'll definitely be there this Saturday. Before two weeks ago I didn't even know there were any other spinners in CT. I have some friends majoring in Electrical Engineering back at school. Maybe they could provide some input for this zappy poi idea.

Yumm...Ramen noodles at 3 in the morning...

~And when the day arrives I'll become the sky, and I'll become the sea, and the sea will come to kiss me for I am going home. Nothing can stop me now.~

Posted:28th Dec 2002Yeah I always had a feeling I should have paid more attention in electrical shop while I was in tech school There must be a way.Please help me find a way to make something that quite possibly could be cooler than fire.

Posted:2nd Jan 2003I would love to go...but this Sat. is all taken up. Its the kickoff event for the US F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Competition, and I really should be at the kickoff event seeing as I'm basically in charge of our group this year. Keep on inviting me though...I want to go, and I'll be free one of these days! e-mail me at jimidawg@snet.net. Later.

Oh, and Astar--I don't know if you've ever been shocked by a van de graff generator...but...while it doesn't really hurt...it's got to difficult as @#%* to poi while being randomly shocked. Hm...on second thought...That could be kind of fun. Hmmm...

Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever -Mahatma Ghandi

Burning--the process of breaking things down into a simpler form. -Hitokage-

Posted:3rd Jan 2003well, lightning poi wouldn't be that hard to make, you would just have to follow a few basic rules (of physics)

the streamers you see on tesla coils are the hf (high-frequency) engergy trying to find a ground. if you wanted streamers like that you would have to keep the poi away from sources of ground (that would include your bod unless you had rubber shoes on)

i would suggest getting a small high voltage P.s (power supply), like from a 3-5mw tube laser, that should put out around 1-2 kv, with very little current, and be powered from a nicad battery for an rc car. then get some high voltage wire and electrical tape (most only insluates up to a 600 volt difference)

anyway, you'll have two wires per poi, one for the + and one for the -, or anode and cathode, though i can't remember which is positive and which is negative. anyway, i would find some sort of wire sphere, and attach one wire to that, then attach the other wire to a ball bearing and mount it inside the wire sphere/cage with tooth picks or something. that way you would have a closed loop system and wouldn't shock people(or yourself) too badly.

the effect would be like a ball, or cage of lightning that would only stay inside the ball. i have no idea how bright it would be, but you could experiment with higher voltage power supplies. the wire sphere would act as a farraday cage, and should in theory be fairly safe. note i say in theory! double check stuff 'cause i've been shocked by 1.5 kv to the sack, which is basically a cattle prod, and it's quite painful (made me almost puke)

feel free to experiment with this, it's just an idea i tossed up off the top of my head, so im sure it need improvement.

as for tesla coils, i wouldn't try using a modded one for this, they have very high freq energy, it's so high frequency that it'll burn you before your nerves can report it to your brain.